Cooling apparatus of die casting mold

ABSTRACT

A cooling apparatus provided in a casting mold part formed with a cooler insertion hole in a die casting mold may include a cooler head including a coolant supply connector and a coolant exhaust connector, an internal pipe fixed to the cooler head to be fluidically-connected to the coolant supply connector, and integrally formed with a spiral protrusion over a predetermined range from a front end portion toward a rear end portion, and an external pipe fixed to the cooler head to be fluidically-connected to the coolant exhaust connector while holding a portion of a remaining range of the internal pipe, and configured to be coupled with an internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0151840 filed on Nov. 13, 2020, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This disclosure relates to a die casting system.

Description of Related Art

In general, die casting is a method of manufacturing a component part by injecting molten metal into a mold. Die casting has higher specific strength than other manufacturing methods, enables mass production with low production cost. Accordingly, in the vehicle industry, various component parts, for example, engines, transmissions, etc. are manufactured by die casting processing methods.

Meanwhile, the die casting mold is provided with a cooling apparatus of cooling a casting mold part. The cooling method of a die casting mold using a cooling apparatus may be divided into a line cooling method that cools a main a casting mold part having a gentle shape in the mold and a spot cooling method that cools a sub-casting mold part having a narrow and deep shape in the mold.

Among them, a cooling apparatus of the spot cooling method may be structured such that coolant is circulated through a coolant pipe inserted into a pipe insertion hole of a sub-casting mold part (for example, a core pin and an insert) of the die casting mold.

This cooling apparatus sprays the coolant to an inner end of the pipe insertion hole through a sub-casting coolant pipe, exhausts the coolant between the outer circumferential surface of the coolant pipe and the inner surface of the pipe insertion hole, to cool the sub-casting mold part.

However, conventionally, as the flow speed of the coolant hitting the inner end of the pipe insertion hole and flowing through the exterior circumferential surface of the coolant pipe deteriorates, the cooling efficiency for the entire inner surface of the pipe insertion hole may be deteriorated.

The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and may not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to providing a cooling apparatus provided in a casting mold part formed with a cooler insertion hole in a die casting mold is provided, where the cooling apparatus includes a cooler head including a coolant supply connector and a coolant exhaust connector, an internal pipe fixed to the cooler head to be fluidically-connected to the coolant supply connector, and integrally formed with a spiral protrusion over a predetermined range, and an external pipe fixed to the cooler head to be fluidically-connected to the coolant exhaust connector while holding a portion of a remaining range of the internal pipe, and configured to be coupled with an internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole.

The cooler head may include a coolant supply passage connected to the coolant supply connector, and connected to a hollow of the internal pipe, and a coolant exhaust passage fluidically connected to the coolant exhaust connector, and fluidically connected to a hollow of the external pipe.

The coolant exhaust passage may be connected to a coolant flow passage formed between an external circumferential surface of the internal pipe and an internal circumferential surface of the external pipe.

The internal pipe may be formed with the spiral protrusion on the external circumferential surface over a predetermined first range from the front end portion toward the rear end portion, and is coupled with the cooler head through the rear end portion of the internal pipe.

A predetermined second range from the rear end portion of the internal pipe toward the front end portion of the internal pipe may be positioned in a hollow of the external pipe. A predetermined third range of the internal pipe between the predetermined first range and the predetermined second range may be positioned inside the cooler insertion hole, together with the predetermined first range of the internal pipe.

The second range and the third range may be integrally formed. The first range and the third range may be interconnected through a laser welding portion.

The external pipe may be screw-engaged with an internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole through a thread formed on an external circumferential surface of a front end portion, and is coupled with the cooler head through a rear end portion.

A hollow of the internal pipe may be formed by drilling by a super drill.

A thickness of the internal pipe may be greater than or equal to 0.3 mm.

An internal diameter of the internal pipe satisfies an equation of

${x \leq \frac{\sqrt{D \times \left( {C^{2} - B^{2}} \right)}}{5}},$

where A is an internal diameter of the internal pipe, B is an external diameter of the internal pipe, C is an external diameter of the spiral protrusion, and D is a pitch of the spiral protrusion.

According to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, cooling performance may be improved for the casting mold part having a narrow and deep hole, such as a core pin and an insert region, in the die casting mold.

Other effects which may be obtained or are predicted by an exemplary embodiment will be explicitly or implicitly described in a detailed description of the present invention. That is, various effects that are predicted according to an exemplary embodiment will be described in the following detailed description.

The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram illustrating a cooler head portion of a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram illustrating an internal pipe portion applied to a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of processing a hollow into the internal pipe applied to a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates an operation of a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

It may be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the present invention. The specific design features of the present invention as included herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particularly intended application and use environment.

In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the present invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that the present description is not intended to limit the present invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the other hand, the present invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Exemplary embodiments of the present application will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

To clarify the present invention, parts that are not related to the description will be omitted, and the same elements or equivalents are referred to with the same reference numerals throughout the specification.

Also, the size and thickness of each element are arbitrarily shown in the drawings, but the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and in the drawings, the thickness of layers, films, panels, regions, etc., are exaggerated for clarity.

In addition, in the following description, dividing names of components into first, second, and the like is to divide the names because the names of the components are the same as each other and an order thereof is not particularly limited.

In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a cooling apparatus 100 of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be applied to a die casting mold 1 for manufacturing a vehicle component part (for example, an engine component part, a transmission component part, and the like) by a high pressure/low pressure die casting process.

Here, in a die casting process using the die casting mold 1, the vehicle component part of the desired shape may be manufactured by injecting molten metal of aluminum, magnesium, or these alloys into the die casting mold 1.

However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the die casting mold 1 for manufacturing the vehicle component part, and the teaching of this disclosure may be applied to a die casting mold for manufacturing casting products of various types and uses.

Hereinafter, with reference to a longitudinal direction of the entire apparatus 100, one end (e.g., the end toward top right side of the drawing) is called a frontal end, and the other end (e.g., the end toward bottom left side of the drawing) is called a rear end. It may be understood that the term “end” may be understood as “end portion” which may cover a portion rather than a point.

The cooling apparatus 100 of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention is for cooling a casting mold part 3 (for example, a core pin and an insert region) having a narrow and deep shape in the die casting mold 1 by the spot cooling method that utilizes coolant.

Here, a cooling apparatus 100 of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention is provided to be inserted into a cooler insertion hole 5 formed in the casting mold part 3, and is configured for circulating the coolant to the cooler insertion hole 5, to cool the casting mold part 3.

The cooling apparatus 100 of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention is configured such that a contact area of the coolant with respect to the cooler insertion hole 5 of the casting mold part 3, flowability of the coolant, and a flow time of the coolant may be maximized.

For such a purpose, a cooling apparatus 100 of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention includes a cooler head 10, an internal pipe 30, and an external pipe 50.

In various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the cooler head 10 is a cooler body having a flow path for supply and exhaust of the coolant, and includes a head main body 11, a coolant supply connector 13, and a coolant exhaust connector 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, the head main body 11 is provided in a form of a rectangular block that internally defines a coolant supply passage 17 and a coolant exhaust passage 19. The coolant supply connector 13 is connected to the head main body 11 and also connected to the coolant supply passage 17. Furthermore, the coolant exhaust connector 15 is connected to the head main body 11 and also connected to the coolant exhaust passage 19.

Here, the coolant supply connector 13 and the coolant exhaust connector 15 are provided in a form of nipples. For example, the coolant supply connector 13 and the coolant exhaust connector 15 are connected to the head main body 11 in a one-touch manner, respectively, and may be connected to the coolant supply passage 17 and the coolant exhaust passage 19, respectively.

The reference numeral 21 denotes a socket plug that blocks the coolant supply passage 17. The socket plug 21 may be screw-engaged with into the internal circumferential surface of the coolant supply passage 17 in the head main body 11.

In various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the internal pipe 30 is for spraying the coolant supplied to the coolant supply connector 13 of the cooler head 10 into the cooler insertion hole 5 of the casting mold part 3.

The internal pipe 30 has a hollow 31 and is fixed to the head main body 11, connected to the coolant supply passage 17 through the hollow 31, and connected to the coolant supply connector 13 through the coolant supply passage 17.

Furthermore, a spiral protrusion 33 is integrally formed on an external circumferential surface of the internal pipe 30 over a predetermined range from the front end portion toward the rear end portion of the internal pipe. The spiral protrusion 33 is formed to protrude from the external circumferential surface of the internal pipe 30 along a spiral direction by predetermined pitch.

Furthermore, in a remaining range of the internal pipe 30, the spiral protrusion 33 is not formed on the external circumferential surface. The internal pipe 30 is coupled with the head main body 11 through the rear end portion, and connected to the coolant supply passage 17 through the hollow 31.

The internal pipe 30 will be later described in further detail together with the external pipe 50.

In various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the external pipe 50 is supported by the head main body 11 to tightly hold the internal pipe 30, and is configured to exhaust the coolant injected from the internal pipe 30 into the cooler insertion hole 5 to an outside through the coolant exhaust connector 15 of the head main body 11.

The external pipe 50 has a hollow 51 of an internal diameter greater than the internal diameter of the internal pipe 30 and is fixed to the head main body 11, connected to the coolant exhaust passage 19 through the hollow 51, and connected to the coolant exhaust connector 15 through the coolant exhaust passage 19.

While holding a portion of the remaining range of the internal pipe 30 inside the hollow 51, the external pipe 50 is coupled with an internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole 5 through a front end portion, coupled with the head main body 11 through the rear end portion, and connected to the coolant exhaust passage 19 through the hollow 51.

Here, a thread 53 is formed on an external circumferential surface of the front end portion of the external pipe 50, and accordingly, the external pipe 50 may be screw-engaged with the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole 5 through the thread 53.

As a portion of the remaining range of the internal pipe 30 is disposed inside the hollow 51 of the external pipe 50, a coolant flow passage 55 connected to the coolant exhaust passage 19 is formed between the external circumferential surface of the internal pipe 30 and the internal circumferential surface of the external pipe 50.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 4, configuration of the internal pipe 30 is described in further detail.

The internal pipe 30 according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be divided into a first range S1 from a front end portion toward the rear end portion, a second range S2 from the rear end portion toward the front end portion, and a third range S3 between the first range S1 and the second range S2.

The spiral protrusion 33 is formed on the external circumferential surface of the first range S1. The second range S2 and the third range S3 form the remaining range of the internal pipe 30 and may be integrally formed, without not being formed with the spiral protrusion 33.

Here, the second range S2 is positioned inside the hollow 51 of the external pipe 50, and the third range S3 is positioned inside the cooler insertion hole 5, together with the first range S1. Furthermore, the first range S1 and the third range S3 is interconnected through a laser welding portion 61 after being separately fabricated initially. That is, the first range S1 is fabricated separately from the second and third ranges S2 and S3 that are integrally formed.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 5, the hollow 31 of the internal pipe 30, e.g., in the first range S1, may be formed by drilling by a super drill 71. The super drill 71 drills a rod-type base material 73 formed with the spiral protrusion 33 on an external circumferential surface, to form the hollow 31 of a predetermined internal diameter.

The super drill 71 is a related art drill that processes a hole of small internal diameter, and may drill a hole in the base material 73 by dissolving or scattering a portion of the base material 73 by electric discharge machining.

The thickness of the internal pipe 30 where the hollow 31 is to be processed by the super drill 71 may be greater than or equal to 0.3 mm. It may be understood that, when the thickness of the internal pipe 30, the spiral protrusion 33 may be damaged, and during the laser welding, the welding portion may be damaged.

Furthermore, to prevent a coolant communication problem, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the internal diameter of the hollow 31 may be set to satisfy the following equation.

$x \leq \frac{\sqrt{D \times \left( {C^{2} - B^{2}} \right)}}{5}$

Here, A is an internal diameter of the internal pipe 30, B is an external diameter of the internal pipe 30, C is an external diameter of the spiral protrusion 33, and D is a pitch of the spiral protrusion 33.

Hereinafter, an operation of a cooling apparatus 100 of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention is described in detail with reference to accompanying drawing.

FIG. 6 illustrates an operation of a cooling apparatus of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the external pipe 50 is coupled with the head main body 11, and connected to the coolant exhaust connector 15 and the coolant exhaust passage 19 through the hollow 51.

Furthermore, the internal pipe 30 is coupled with the head main body 11 in a state that the second range S2 is positioned inside the hollow 51 of the external pipe 50 and the first and third ranges S1 and S3 are positioned outside the hollow 51 of the external pipe 50. The internal pipe 30 is connected to the coolant supply connector 13 and the coolant supply passage 17 through the hollow 31.

Here, the spiral protrusion 33 is formed on the external circumferential surface of the first range S1 of the internal pipe 30, and the coolant flow passage 55 between the external circumferential surface of the internal pipe 30 and the internal circumferential surface of the external pipe 50 is connected to the coolant exhaust passage 19.

In such a state, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the first and third ranges S1 and S3 of the internal pipe 30 is inserted into the cooler insertion hole 5 of the casting mold part 3.

Subsequently, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the front end portion of the external pipe 50 is screw-engaged with the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole 5 through the thread 53. At the instant time, the front end portion of the internal pipe 30 remains apart from the internal end portion of the cooler insertion hole 5.

While the cooling apparatus 100 according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention is mounted in the die casting mold 1 Accordingly, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, in a process of casting a product through the die casting mold 1, coolant is supplied to the coolant supply connector 13.

Accordingly, the coolant flows to the hollow 31 of the internal pipe 30 through the coolant supply passage 17, and is sprayed through the front end portion of the internal pipe 30. Accordingly, the coolant hits the internal end portion of the cooler insertion hole 5 and inflows into the spiral flow path between the spiral protrusion 33 and the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole 5.

Therefore, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, while flowing through the spiral flow path in the spiral direction thereof, the coolant cools the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole 5.

In the instant case, the coolant heated while cooling the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole 5 flows into the coolant exhaust passage 19 through the coolant flow passage 55 between the external circumferential surface of the internal pipe 30 and the internal circumferential surface of the external pipe 50, and then is expelled to outside through the coolant exhaust connector 15.

Therefore, the coolant may circulate along such a circulation path and cool the casting mold part 3 of the die casting mold 1.

According to a cooling apparatus 100 of a die casting mold according to various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, since the spiral protrusion 33 to force to the coolant to flow along the spiral direction inside the cooler insertion hole 5 of the casting mold part 3 is formed on the internal pipe 30, a contact area of the coolant to the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole 5 may be increased.

Furthermore, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as the coolant flowing inside the cooler insertion hole 5 is guided in the spiral direction through the spiral protrusion 33, the flowability of the coolant and the flow time of the coolant may be maximized.

Accordingly, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, cooling performance may be improved for the casting mold part 3 having a narrow and deep hole, such as a core pin and an insert region, in the die casting mold 1.

Furthermore, in various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a partial range of the internal pipe 30 having the spiral protrusion 33 is drilled by the super drill 71 to form the hollow 31, and then welded to the remaining range by laser welding, coolant communication performance and durability of the internal pipe 30 may be increased.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “inner”, “outer”, “up”, “down”, “upwards”, “downwards”, “front”, “rear”, “back”, “inside”, “outside”, “inwardly”, “outwardly”, “interior”, “exterior”, “internal”, “external”, “forwards”, and “backwards” are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures. It will be further understood that the term “connect” or its derivatives refer both to direct and indirect connection.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described to explain certain principles of the present invention and their practical application, to enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the present invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A cooling apparatus provided in a casting mold part formed with a cooler insertion hole in a die casting mold, the cooling apparatus comprising: a cooler head including a coolant supply connector and a coolant exhaust connector; a first pipe fixed to the cooler head to be fluidically-connected to the coolant supply connector, and integrally formed with a spiral protrusion over a predetermined range of the first pipe; and a second pipe fixed to the cooler head to be fluidically-connected to the coolant exhaust connector while holding a portion of a remaining range of the first pipe, and configured to be coupled with an internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole.
 2. The cooling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first pipe is an internal pipe and the second pipe is an external pipe aligned to surround the internal pipe in a predetermined length of the internal pipe.
 3. The cooling apparatus of claim 2, wherein the cooler head includes: a coolant supply passage fluidically connected to the coolant supply connector, and fluidically connected to a hollow of the internal pipe; and a coolant exhaust passage fluidically connected to the coolant exhaust connector, and fluidically connected to a hollow of the external pipe.
 4. The cooling apparatus of claim 3, wherein the coolant exhaust passage is fluidically connected to a coolant flow passage formed between an external circumferential surface of the internal pipe and an internal circumferential surface of the external pipe.
 5. The cooling apparatus of claim 2, wherein the predetermined range of the internal pipe includes a predetermined first range, and wherein the internal pipe is formed with the spiral protrusion on an external circumferential surface of the internal pipe over the predetermined first range from a front end portion of the internal pipe toward a rear end portion of the internal pipe, and is coupled with the cooler head through the rear end portion of the internal pipe.
 6. The cooling apparatus of claim 5, wherein the remaining range of the internal pipe includes a predetermined second range having the predetermined length, wherein the predetermined second range is positioned along the hollow of the external pipe from the rear end portion of the internal pipe toward the front end portion of the internal pipe, and wherein a predetermined third range of the internal pipe between the predetermined first range and the predetermined second range is configured to be positioned inside the cooler insertion hole, together with the predetermined first range of the internal pipe.
 7. The cooling apparatus of claim 6, wherein the predetermined second range is between the rear end portion of the internal pipe and a front end portion of the external pipe.
 8. The cooling apparatus of claim 6, wherein the predetermined second range and the predetermined third range are integrally formed; and wherein the predetermined first range and the predetermined third range are interconnected through a laser welding portion.
 9. The cooling apparatus of claim 6, wherein the external pipe is configured to be screw-engaged with the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole through a thread formed on an external circumferential surface of the external pipe on the predetermined second range, and is coupled with the cooler head through a rear end portion of the external pipe.
 10. The cooling apparatus of claim 1, wherein the external pipe is configured to be screw-engaged with the internal circumferential surface of the cooler insertion hole through a thread formed on an external circumferential surface of a front end portion of the external pipe, and is coupled with the cooler head through a rear end portion of the external pipe.
 11. The cooling apparatus of claim 2, wherein a hollow of the internal pipe is formed by drilling by a super drill.
 12. The cooling apparatus of claim 2, wherein a thickness of the internal pipe is greater than or equal to 0.3 mm.
 13. The cooling apparatus of claim 1, wherein an internal diameter of the internal pipe satisfies an equation of ${x \leq \frac{\sqrt{D \times \left( {C^{2} - B^{2}} \right)}}{5}},$ where A is an internal diameter of the internal pipe, B is an external diameter of the internal pipe, C is an external diameter of the spiral protrusion, and D is a pitch of the spiral protrusion. 